How DC Tech Gives Back
Behind the brains and innovation of DC tech is a community that rallies for those in need. Here’s a smattering of their good deeds.
Tahzoo announced this month it would donate to Bread for the City, which provides DC residents with food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services. Tahzoo is also supporting employees who want to use their professional expertise to help local nonprofits through programs like #YesWeCode, which provides low-opportunity youth with resources and tools to become computer programmers. The company is also starting a new volunteer policy that provides employees with a certain number of hours each quarter to use for volunteering. The DC firm designs online content and helps with non-digital solutions like call centers and brick-and-mortar stores for customers like DirecTV and Nationwide Insurance.
Octo Consulting Group’s charitable portfolio includes donating $500 per employee to a charity of the employee’s preference. The McLean-based IT consulting firm is also working with HUD to collect boots for the agency’s “Walk in Their Shoes” event for homeless veterans and with DC Veterans Hospital to collect coats for homeless vets. Octo employees also laid Christmas wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery and collected food for local food banks and toys for Toys for Tots. These two employees helped serve a Thanksgiving meal to homeless vets.
Experian Public Sector works with Stop Hunger Now, which provides food and other help to children and families around the world. The DC office, which provides data and predictive analytics to federal, state and local agencies, also recently packaged nutritional meals for the homeless. The company’s community service contributions is organized through its Heart of Experian Community Involvement program.
Dulles-based cloud operator Carpathia participated in “Operation Covert Santa,” a program under the Wounded Warrior Project to support recently injured service members being treated at Walter Reed and their families. Carpathia adopted a family of five that includes an Army sergeant in the military police, who was recently medically retired after suffering severe back and head injuries while down range. The company bought and wrapped presents for the family, which also includes an 8-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl.
American Systems, a government services contractor based in Chantilly, works with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services, granting the gift wishes of nearly 60 foster children. The county department is tasked with several services including helping families find child care, domestic and sexual violence services, foster and adoptive parenting, shelters, parenting classes and SNAP (food stamps).
These CCSi employees joined Operation Welcome Home Maryland at BWI Airport. Their job: to give a heartfelt welcome to returning service members and their families. Volunteers from the Rockville-based program/project management and IT solutions firm, donated food, created handmade thank you cards and made goodie bags for the veterans.
